What was Rome like during its zenith? In July 2023 acclaimed historian and co-host of The Rest Is History podcast Tom Holland came to Intelligence Squared to paint a vivid picture of Rome during the Pax Romana, when Rome was the world’s great superpower. Drawing on his new book Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age, Holland described how at its peak the Roman Empire was the wealthiest and most powerful state the world had then seen, stretching from Scotland to Arabia, and containing perhaps a quarter of the human population then alive.

Starting in 69 AD, a year that saw four Caesars in succession rule the empire, and ending some seven decades later with the death of Hadrian, Holland showed us the Roman Empire in all its predatory glory. He described the momentous events that define the period, including the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii, the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian’s Wall, and the conquests of Trajan. He brought to life Romans of all types, from slaves and ordinary citizens to the mighty emperors. And he also explored the darker undercurrents of the period, showing how the vaunted Pax Romana, often hailed as a time of peace, was in fact forged through unprecedented military violence.